Shocking in My this and that

Today I am thankful for my husband, moreso than normal even.

I know this girl. I even would call her a friend. She is the daughter of my boss, but also works at an organization I volunteer with on a regular basis. She is good friends with other friends of mine as well. We are connected in many different ways to say the least.

She got engaged on Friday night! Her boyfriend had brought her home to meet his mother, and then they went out and chose her engagement ring, and called and booked the church for a December wedding date.

This woman had had a hard life. Quite a few times things in life had tried to knock her down. Finally things got good. She works at a job she loves and is passionate about. She found a wonderful man of God to show her a new kind of love she hadn't experienced before.

Friday night she excitedly showed her dad the picture of her engagement ring, which soon would be on her finger.

Saturday morning she called her dad sobbing. She'd just received a phone call from her fiance's mother... her fiance died in his sleep. He never woke up.

You hear stories like this. You see them in the news. They are terrible terrible stories about brides dying in a car crash on the way to the church, or something terrible happening to newly-weds on their honeymoon... but this doesn't happen to people you know and care about...

But everyone has someone who cares about them

It's heart-breaking and I feel useless, like I don't know what to do. She posted a message on facebook, which was beautiful and inspirational. The way she is looking to God in this situation to be her comfort and her strength is amazing, and I'm so glad she is relying on that lifeline... to go through this on her own strength would be next to impossible.

Last night Ben received an e-mail from a friend asking if we'd come over. His wife was in the hospital and he was making himself crazy with worry just sitting there thinking about it.

They had been on a camping trip and pain from a chronic condition that she deals with just kept getting worse and worse to the point where she couldn't walk or sit or lay down because nothing eased the pain. They took her to the hospital where they helped. They sent her home saying she just needed to rest and recover, even though she felt she should stay at the hospital.

Well she went home and there were complications. She was bleeding internally, and it became quite apparent so they took her back to the hospital. They said they'd most likely keep her for a few days, and when I saw her last night they were still running tests. I prayed with her, and left her my cell phone because her family is way out in Quebec and she doesn't have a cell phone of her own.

I forgot to turn off my morning alarms (I have three, starting at 6:00 a.m.) and I feel SOOOOO badly. I hope they didn't disturb her too much, and I hope the phone was more of a help than an annoyance or frustration.

I plan to go see her today after work. Hopefully she is feeling much better.